Coffee With Jim

Wake Up With Jim, December 23, 2021

Christmas cards, gifts, family, mall Santa's, reindeer, and childhood memories. It is a wonderful time of year. It is a a time of tradition. But did you know that many American Christmas traditions are a recent phenomena? Did you know that the war on Christmas was actually fought in the 1650s? Did you know that Santa Claus had children? Did you know that many of our holiday traditions have Dutch and German origins? 
Join author Jim Hinckley for a look at Christmas in America through the centuries on this episode of Coffee With Jim.  
Today's program is sponsored by the iconic Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. 

Wake Up With Jim, December 21, 2021

Our countdown to Christmas continues with some road trip inspiration. This morning author Jim Hinckley shares his wish list for places to visit during the holiday season. 
This mornings program is sponsored in part by the charming and delightful city of Tucumcari. 

Wake Up With Jim, December 20, 2021

It is the story of an American icon that begins on Christmas day, 1878. As was the case with many automotive pioneers and even the Wright Brothers, he began his career with bicycle repair and racing. But for a time he took it a step further and manufactured bicycles under the Frontenac name. 
His career included work as a mechanic for Fiat, a founding member of Buick's factory racing team, and the manufacturer of high performance parts for the Model T Ford. He was Louis Chevrolet. 
Today's program is sponsored in part by RouteTrip USA, road trip specialists that ensure a memorable holiday in the US as well as Canada. It is also sponsored in part by the iconic Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. 

Wake Up With Jim, December 17, 2021

It's Friday morning! That means it is time to delve into the mail (or email) bag and answer your questions about road trips, Route 66, travel, good pie, ghost towns, rental cars, hotels, ....
Today's program is sponsored in part by RouteTrip USA, the holiday road trip specialists. 

Wake Up With Jim, December 16, 2021

Route 66. The Main Street of America. Long ago the old double 6 morphed into something more than a mere highway. It has a dedicated international fan club. It is the stage used for the introduction of an array of products from electric Harley Davidson motorcycles to insurance in Australian. 
How did this happen? How did this highway come to symbolize the quintessential American road trip? Will the highways popularity continue into its centennial and beyond? 
Join author Jim Hinckley for a fun filled, fast paced look at the most famous highway in America.
Today's program is sponsored in part by the Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and the iconic Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba, Missouri. 

Wake Up With Jim, December 15, 2021

On this mornings episode America's storyteller shares the tale of an Arizona pioneer, and a territorial era hotel that still stands in spite of a bitter breakup of partners, changing times, and premature attempts to use it for the launching of an historic district renaissance. 
And there is a diverse celebrity connection to the story. Edsel Ford. Clark Gable and Carol Lombard. Senator Barry Goldwater. 
Also on this mornings program, updates on the innovative program that is bringing Kingman's rich and colorful history to life. 
Today's program is sponsored in part by RouteTrip USA, your one stop shop for a memorable road trip holiday in the USA or Canada. It is also sponsored by the magic of crowdfunding on the Patreon platform. 

Wake Up With Jim, December 14, 2021

Budville a few miles west of Laguna, New Mexico was never much more than a wide spot in the road. There was a garage and service station, store, and across the highway a roadhouse, the Dixie Tavern & Cafe. 
But on two separate occasions Budville made national headlines. Once in 1967 when the owner H.N. "Bud" Rice was murdered. And also in early 1956 with the discovery of Ralph Rainey's body along Route 66 just west of Budville, and the linking of his death to a string of murders along Route 66.
On this mornings episode of Wake Up With Jim, author Jim Hinckley, America's storyteller, shares another dark tale from his book, Murder & Mayhem on The Main Street of America: Tales From Bloody 66. 
Today's program is sponsored in part by magical, surprising, delightful, memory making Tucumcari, New Mexico. It is also sponsored by the one and only Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari where the past and present blend seamlessly. And these programs are also made possible through the magic of crowdfunding.

Wake Up With Jim, December 13, 2021

It was never more than a remote desert railroad siding in northwestern Arizona. Today few even remember that it existed. Only a few concrete slabs, scattered trash piles and a scattering of graves marked with weathered wooden cross or rocks mark the site. 
It is a haunting place. And it is the site of not one, but two epic disasters. In November of 1901 two trains collided head on just west of Franconia, Arizona. The Santa Fe railroad said it was the most horrendous disaster in the company's history. And then in 1945, an express train collided with a passenger train at the siding. 
On this mornings program America's storyteller author Jim Hinckley shares the story of these disasters, and of the remote desert outpost that was Franconia. 
This program is sponsored in part by RouteTrip USA the road trip holiday professionals.